Cycles of Life
by Foreverclear
Summary: Life. One struggle through it. One struggle to protect it. A tale of two souls joining in a maze of neverending cycles. A tale of joy and sorrow. A tale of life
1. Blood, Sweat, and Tears

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and all that**

**Warning: There will be violence, some languages, and implied questionable activities. NO YAOI**

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Corpse littered everywhere in the barren streets of the once Great Shinobi Village of Konoha. Somewhere in middle of the village lay a blonde-haired man, cuts and bruises covered his battered body, breathing heavily. Not far from this man, lay three corpses in different states. The furthest one is a silver-haired man with a hole in his chest and an expression of fascination and shock still on his face, probably wondering how the hole was created. The second furthest one is a black-haired girl around 17 of age with a stab wound on her stomach; blood spread over her white kimono and a beautiful serene smile covered her equally beautiful face. The nearest corpse could only be perceived as cut and shredded into pieces. Blood sprayed all over him, and the only describable feature is a pair of crimson eyes with three black tomoes each staring into nothingness.

Not long after, the blonde sit up and stared at the shredded corpse in front him. Not far from him the sound of battles can be heard. Sensing some footsteps getting closer he braced himself, stand up and look to where the sound was coming. Sure enough came three shinobis wearing sound hitai-ate on their foreheads. After seeing their shocked faces at the sight of their fearsome leader turned into a bloodied mess of a corpse, he smirked and said airily, "Nice weather isn't it? I just got a free snake meat and I must say they are quite difficult to chop, slippery skin I guess."

"H-he defeated Orochimaru-sama!" One of the sound shinobi exclaimed fearfully. The others just stood there frozen.

"Defeated? I cut him into pieces and that is what will happen to you in a moment." The blonde said coldly while curling his hands into a strange hand seal and whispered, "**Hijutsu: Kyuukouken**!" (Secret Technique: Nine crimson blades).

Nine thick, five-feet long tails made of chakra erupt from his back and before any of the sound shinobis could react, he disappeared before their eyes with an explosion of chakra from his feet and proceeded by spinning around with his tails sharpening and spread out, killing them instantly.

"That's an overkill don't you think?" he heard from a feminine voice as he stumbled in his landing and fall to his rear. He looks up to see a beautiful woman with a shoulder length blonde hair in a purple battle gi and black tight pants looking at him with concern. Her face and clothes was covered in blood though it was clear that most of them are not hers.

He huffed and struggled to stand up while the chakra tails vanished. After taking a deep breath, "No" he said blandly. "They are jounins and I barely had any chakra left."

The woman gave an un-ladylike snort and smacked him on the back of his head. "Barely any chakra for you is plenty enough for the rest of us. And if you barely had any chakra why in the world did you use K**ouken no **Mai(Dance of the Crimson Blade)!" She exclaimed. "You could just slice them easily after **Kyuukouken** is activated." She continued and at the same time checking his injuries.

While he has deep gashes and three broken ribs, it is not life-threatening so she just works on the gashes. She knows his regeneration powers must have healed the critical ones which caused him chakra depletion. She silently thanked the Kyuubi for the powers for she was sure the wounds were critical enough to warrant such amount of chakra if it made him, the stamina freak, tired. Then again his opponents were the leaders of Otogakure no Sato. Even though the fact that he won did not surprise her in the slightest, they are tough opponents. While she could take on Kabuto and Asuka, she knows that she couldn't face Orochimaru with the **Mangekyou Sharingan** eyes.

"If you wanted to grope me that bad you should have said so _ANBU-san_, I'd be willing to oblige." He said in a light tone, though you could hear the underlying dark beneath it.

"Oh, you know I always imagine the two of us lying in the middle of Konoha street making passionate love, _Hokage-sama_!" she growled in what she hoped to be a seductive tone, though the effect is dissuaded by the fact that her face is red with anger and embarrassment. Add to that, the scowl marred on her beautiful face made her look like a prim princess forced to do crude things and the man couldn't help but chuckle, watching her crossing her arms with a pout on her face.

"So…..you killed him." She stated softly after a pause.

"Yes." He replied.

After a while the sound of battles ended. _Those Oto and Iwa shinobis must have felt his death and retreat_. The man thought. _Or none of them are alive at the moment_.

"How are the others?" the man asked. "Well, let's go check them." He said when he sees the turmoil in her eyes and heard no answers. It is most definitely bad news if she hesitated to inform him. He dashed to the safe tunnel which leads to a safe location beneath the Hokage Mountain where most of the civilians were evacuated with the blonde woman following him.

* * *

"I see. This…..is trouble." The 24-years old blonde Hokage muttered quietly.

Konoha won, or survived the battle would be correct phrase. More than half of its buildings were decimated and the shinobi ranks were cut to a mere 32 ninjas. The Hokage, ANBU Commander, 4 ANBUs, 6 jounins, 7 chuunins who works as academy teachers, and 13 genins were the only ones left of what used to be one of if not the strongest shinobi country in the Elemental Continent. The rest are civilians and academy students. He sighed to himself and proceeds to observe the remaining high-ranked shinobis in the make-shift office (The Hokage Tower was destroyed in the battle).

To his right is his trusted ANBU Commander who surprisingly is the blonde woman who followed him earlier. Cleaned up, she looked stunning in a black kimono and purple tights on her 5"9 tall and slender body. Her hitai-ate covering her neck, purple fingerless gloves, two black wakizashis strapped on both sides of her hips and a pouch on her right thigh completed the ninja look. Although she could not be called the strongest, she is a calm, intelligent, and deadly kunoichi. 24-years old Yamanaka Ino ascended to her current rank through her versatility and capability as a kunoichi that is proven by her record of no failure in missions since her ANBU year. To add to that, she unlocked a telepathic trait as a kekkei genkai she called **Kiokuei** (Memory Swim) which allows her to skim her opponent's memories with all the emotions in the memories involved as long as she made skin contact. This new kekkei genkai also altered her mind and brain structure which allowed her to absorb and memorize all the added memories without resulting her in a mental ward for madness and mental breakdown. She could not read minds whatsoever, but the memories coupled with the **Kage Henge no Jutsu **(Shadow Transformation technique which is basically a tempered **Sexy no Jutsu** that is surprisingly not a Genjutsu but a real body transformation) made her earned the nickname _Konoha no Ikiryou Ninja_ (Konoha's Doppelganger Ninja).

To his left sat the infamous 20-years old ANBU Captain of Special ANBU Unit Sarutobi Konohamaru. Covered from head to toe in black, red oni mask, and the symbolic grey haori with seven point star on the back special to the unit over the ensemble, he looks mysterious and imposing with his 5"10 lithe and muscular body. He leads the special unit Kuroboshi (Black Star) which operates directly under the Hokage and answers to no one else but the Hokage. His stealth is unmatched and he somehow created a fighting style very similar to Momochi Zabuza's Silent Killing style, although with a less power but much more speed and precise blows. He developed a camouflage jutsu more effective than Jiraiya's hiding technique that made him famous as the Chameleon which is the name of his jutsu and also his ANBU codename. Discarding the standard kunai and shuriken, he opted for senbons and a weapon of his own design. A fingerless gauntlet with a retractable five-inch long black blade in the middle to hack his opponents.

Behind him stood his remaining unit members. Nearest to him is a 20-years old Utahana Moegi. While she also used black, she, unlike her captain who was covered all over, was barely covered. She honed the arts of seduction to such perfection it became her preferred weapon. She wears a black leather tank top which barely covered her bosoms and showing her flat stomach, black forearm guard with black fingerless gloves, black high heeled stiletto and a black mini skirt on her curvaceous hips which cut up on the sides showing her long slender legs. She wears her hitai-ate covering her neck, black wires tied her orange hair into a high ponytail, a chain whip on her right hip and a pouch for ninja tools on her left hip. All in all, her skimpy outfit shows her voluptuous figure which she uses to her advantage with the codename Usagi (Bunny/Rabbit). Her Kuroboshi haori was modified into a cloak she usually wears concealing her body unless she needs to reveal it. Her bunny mask made people wonder if she had chosen it to overcompensate for her body and ninja arts, the rest of her team wonder how she is still a virgin.

Standing right beside her is the last remaining Kuroboshi, 17-years old Chizuru Asura. He is of average height, pale skin, high cheekbones, and sleek and shiny black hair. Dressed in a simple long-sleeved shirt and black pants under the Kuroboshi haori, his regal features made enemies underestimate him, thinking he was some rich snobbish brat playing ninja. His skills however placed him as the most powerful in the unit. The only reason he didn't become the captain is his emotions and lacking in the ability to lead. If not restrained by an order, he was quick to let his emotions get in way and hinder his judgments. He is slightly more powerful in raw power than Konohamaru, but Konohamaru always outsmarted him. He was one of Orochimaru's runaway experiments. He was saved by the blonde Hokage who later on became his idol. He and his, now deceased, twin sister Asuka were the lucky ones, acquiring ability without any changes in their physical features. They were the children of one of the lords in Rice Field Country who went against Orochimaru and the Otogakure no Sato. Their genetics were scrambled; creating a new kekkei genkai they called **Shinorigami** (God's weaving hair). They use chakra manipulating their hair, changing the colors, increases the density, lengthen or shorten, their hair is a weapon under their command. Asura's codename is Kurogami.

Sitting to Konohamaru's left is the sole survivor of the legendary Hyuuga Clan as well as the only surviving member of Konoha's ANBU Corps. 19-years old Hyuuga Hanabi is the captain of ANBU Team 3 from Hunter-nin division. Wearing traditional white Hyuuga garb and her hair up in bun, she looked a little out of place in a crowd of dark wearing shinobis.

The Hokage sighed and looked at the six remaining jounins. The only jounins older than thirty are Maito Gai (38), Shiranui Genma (41), and Shizune (34) respectively. The other three are around his age. Rock Lee and Ami are both the remaining jounins who went to help the evacuation with the genins. They are also jounin-senseis for genin Team 5 and genin Team 6. Then the hokage looked at the last one.

There sitting calmly is the Hokage's best friend and right-hand man also advisor, 25-years old Sai. He wears black kimono and grey hakama, looking more like a diplomat since his status is no more an active ninja. He wears his hitai-ate around his left arm along with a glove with an intricate seals, and a big kanji of '封(seal)' in the middle. Of all people, the hokage never thought that Sai would be his best friend. After the defection of Haruno Sakura to Oto, Team 7 crumbled with Kakashi asking to rejoin the ANBU Black Ops. Then Danzou with his ANBU 'Ne' members along with Orochimaru's force came to overthrow the Godaime Hokage Tsunade. Their attack was thwarted, but it cost a lot of good shinobis life, one was Hatake Kakashi in the arms of his former students Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. He died with a sword through the heart after he was immobilized by Sakura breaking his leg with her freakish strength, although he managed to cut off Sakura's left arm with his **Raikiri**.

After the battle, all surviving members of 'Ne' were sentenced to death along with Danzou. Seeing as Sai fight alongside him in the battle, he remembered how he walked to Tsunade's office and demand her not to execute Sai. After hours of yelling and punching (On Tsunade's part) she finally relented and decided to use her position as Hokage to enforce it to the Councils. Sai wasn't being executed but must be watched and monitored at all times so of course he demanded, again, to be the watcher. After that they became friends and when he was elected as the Rokudaime Hokage, he appointed Sai as his aide as well as an advisor and negotiator for Konoha.

After a long silence, Hanabi raised her hand and said "Hokage-sama if I may…"

The blonde Hokage nodded his head towards her urging her to continue. She straightened and spoke clearly, "I have done the Clan survey, and Konoha is inhabited no more of the Akimichi Clan while the Aburame Clan only survived with one member, an eight-years old academy student who goes by the name of Aburame Akira. And as you can see Ino-san and I are the only ones left of the Yamanaka Clan and Hyuuga Clan although we still have three children from the Nara Clan and two from the Inuzuka Clan. Genma-san and Mai-sama of the Shiranui Clan are the only surviving elders of all Konoha clans."

"Of course there is also this idiot here from the Sarutobi Clan." She concluded receiving a glare from said ANBU Captain.

"Hey, don't put me in the same standings as my mother, I'm not that old." Genma grumbled.

"Why does the Sarutobi Clan being included among the prominent clans? If I am not mistaken there were only nine prominent clans in Konoha. All seven mentioned plus the Uchiha Clan and Koike Clan of Shodaime, Nidaime, and Godaime Hokage." Moegi asked confusedly.

"At first yes there were eight prominent clans in Konoha. But it is also decided by all Clan Heads in the reign of Nidaime-sama that anyone who became a Hokage automatically has a seat in the Council of Clan Heads thus allowing their clan to become a member of Konoha's prominent clans. It was actually the first law passed by the agreement of all Clan Heads in the Council and the Hokage." Sai answered smartly.

"Now there are 11 prominent clans in record. The nine starting number plus the Sarutobi Clan of Sandaime Hokage and the forgotten Kazama Clan of both Yondaime and…..Rokudaime Hokage-sama." He continued after receiving a nod from the blonde Hokage sitting across from him.

Besides Sai, Ino, and Shizune, the shinobis gathered in the room swiveled around their heads to their Hokage, each one gazing inquiringly.

"My father asked me to take my rightful name on my 25th birthday. Strange as it is, I am to be given everything, his wealth, scrolls, and house, besides my clan name on my 18th birthday. He did not explain why in his will, and truthfully I don't want to know why so please, continue." He answered their questioning stares.

"Speaking of which, we should send a message to Shikamaru in Suna. He would want to have his cousins to move with him." Ino interrupted.

There were quiet murmurings until Sai hold his hand up. The Hokage motioned for him to speak.

"Although I have no qualms on the message part, I admit I am a little doubtful on the moving part. We already lost so many; we can not afford to lose another prominent clan even though Suna is our ally." Sai said calmly. "Shikamaru-san made the decision to leave Konoha and become a Suna shinobi after he married Temari-san, but he also agreed not to bring any scrolls of the Nara Clan and only teach to his descendants the Clan jutsus he currently had in his arsenal. If we let the children move to Suna, not only that made us look weaker than we already are, we also willingly gave away one of our prominent clan to another shinobi village which could be considered banishment. That is considered an embarrassment and offense of a high degree to the clan name and another village besides Suna may work to invite them to attack Konoha considering it is in their rights to do so as written in a law by the Shodaime Hokage." He explained.

"What kind of unyouthful law are you talking about my friend?" Gai exclaimed with tears building on his eyes, threatening to spill all over his face.

"It is a law only known to members of the prominent clans in Konoha, The Hokage, and his/her aide. I'm not surprised only few in this room know about it." Shizune answered.

"The law states that if a clan, not just a member, were banished from Konoha, they were allowed to issue a challenge for a duel between one member of their clan and the current Hokage once at any point of time within five years after the banishment with the winner taking the Hokage position along with the inclusion of their clan and the loser being banished along with his/her clan members without a second chance for said challenge to be issued." Ino elaborated when she saw Ami, Moegi, Asura, Lee, and Gai's confused faces.

"But they are still children aren't they? The eldest is Nara Yukiko who is only a 10-years old academy student. Do you really think in five years she could beat Rokudaime-sama? Forget five years; she could never hope to win!" Asura spoke vehemently.

"Yes, but you forgot that there are Clan inclusion techniques using blood seals, she could include anyone into the clan, and I mean anyone. You also forgot that she is now the Clan Head of the Nara Clan since Shikamaru-san was ousted from the clan for becoming a shinobi of another village besides Konoha." Sai responded calmly.

"If that's the case, then it is all up her. I heard from my dad that the Nara Clan is an alpha follower. They can try to influence by giving some suggestions but the decision always rest in the Clan Head's hands and once it is decided and being said, the members always followed without protest. Now that there are only three of them left…." She trailed off.

"I believe we are all getting ahead of ourselves. This meeting today is for your report on the battle two days ago, and the number of survivors as well as their conditions. We will have another meeting next week on the clan issue among other problems, after we tend to those injured and check on the buildings and other structures in the village." The blonde Hokage interjected calmly.

"Why do we need to check the buildings?" Rock Lee queried.

Ami who sat beside him smacked his head and answered, "Because, idiot, we need to check the bodies underneath those destroyed buildings. We still need to bury them and check the fatalities."

"Lee, Ami, please tell your genin team along with the rest of the genins who lost their jounin-senseis to gather here tomorrow at seven o'clock for your assignments. Gai and Shizune, give this scroll to Watanabe-san, Head of the Village Council, wait for his reply and bring them to me immediately. Genma, inform Mai-sama about this meeting and ask her to come for the next one. The four of you patrol around the village. Sai and Ino, stay, I have something to discuss with you two. Meeting's adjourned, you are dismissed."

Everybody goes out of the room, leaving the blonde Hokage, his aide, and the ANBU Commander. They studied the reports and checked who died and everything, with the blonde Hokage giving his own version of the battle. Then they watched the memories that Ino obtained from the people in the meetings as she transferred them to the wall for viewing with a jutsu of her own creation, **Ninpou: Seishin Tousha** (Ninja Arts: Spirit Projection). After asking Sai to take notes to be delivered alongside the reports to the archive room, he asked Sai to issue an invitation for the parties involved in the next meeting and be ready to supervise the genins for their mission tomorrow also act as the temporary leader for one week. When asked why, he only answered that he might have something to save Konoha and he is going to research it in the following week. Sai just nodded and leave the room.

"So, it would seem like _that_ idea would be best now." The blonde Hokage stated to ANBU Commander beside him.

"It would seem so." She said. "But it would be better if you don't worry and blame yourself on this loss. You know if you don't concentrate on that traitor, it would be harder to push them away and we would have lost so much more because of that."

"Nobody realized that he was actually Sasuke, everyone thinks that he was Orochimaru."

"Let them think what they want. I only knew because I saw him killed Sakura in front of me just to acquire that **Mangekyou Sharingan** eyes."

"True." He muttered quietly. "Let's go search that seal, oh and by the way, thank you Ino." He said with a smile. She blushed a little at that and said with a smile, "You're welcome. Don't worry; you already are a great Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi there this is my story. The base concept is Time-Travel with different plot and twists. Although the time travelling concept is quite common as I have read quite a few of them, this story is different and hopefully interesting for you readers. Well then, Enjoy!

Foreverclear. Forever yours

Jutsu:

**Hijutsu: Kyuukouken** (Secret Technique: Nine Crimson Blades) (A-Rank: High Chakra Consumption) (Bloodline Jutsu)

A jutsu created by Uzumaki Naruto. After his merging with Kyuubi, he gained the ability to solidify his own chakra besides the regeneration power. So in honor of the one that has given him the power, he developed this jutsu. It concentrates his chakra with a unique handseal purposely created for this technique to the tenketsu point near his tail bone and burst them outwards, dividing them equally creating nine highly concentrated chakra blades, hence the name. He also created a fighting style to support the jutsu, the Kyuuken (Nine blades) style.

**Kouken no Mai** (Dance of the Crimson Blade) (A-Rank: High Chakra Consumption)

A move from the Kyuuken style used to scatter group enemies. It uses the concept of **Hakkeshou: Kaiten** of the Hyuuga Clan and **Tsuuga** of the Inuzuka Clan. The user gather their chakra to their feet and blast them, propelling them forward in high velocity all the while positioning the 'tails' and spinning around creating a tornado of deadly spin attacking and defending at the same time.

**Mangekyou Sharingan** (Kaleidoscope Copy-Wheel Eyes) (A-Rank: High Chakra Consumption) (Bloodline Jutsu)

The Final Stage of the infamous **Sharingan** doujutsu (Eye Technique). It can pierce through any Genjutsus, see the movement of chakra, copy anything it sees, predict enemy movements, and a prelude to a terrifyng genjutsu called **Tsukiyomi** and a powerful fire jutsu called **Amaterasu**.

**Kiokuei** (Memory Swim) (Bloodline Limit)

A kekkei genkai developed by combining the mind jutsu from the Yamanaka Clan, and Naruto's blood which contains volatile chakra. It was an accidental discovery. She was dying in the field on a mission and needed a blood transfusion with no one there beside her and Naruto. Deciding to take a risk he used a simple medical technique to transfer his blood to her. She was unconcsious for three days and when she woke up, she grabbed naruto's arm and accidentally read some of his memories. After that mission they became close and she started to gain attention as the Ikiryou-nin.

**Kage Henge no Jutsu** (B-Rank: High Chakra Consumption) (Kinjutsu: Forbidden Jutsu)

A higher level of the basic D-rank jutsu, **Henge no Jutsu**. While the basic one is a Genjutsu easily countered, this does not have a counter since it is an actual body transformation, not a simple illusion. Because of its high consumption of chakra and usefullness for subterfuge, it is declared a Kinjutsu, sealed within the Scroll of Seals.

**Shinorigami** (God's Weaving Hair) (Bloodline Limit)

A kekkei genkai developed by a genetic manipulation. It gave its user the ability to manipulate and control their hair. Strangely enough, it only affect the hair on their heads.

**Raikiri** (Lightning Edge) (B-Rank: High Chakra Consumption)

An assasination technique developed by the Copy-nin Hatake Kakashi. It used chakra to control the users lighning manipulation and concentrate it on their palm creating a visible buzzing chakra to quickly eliminate the users opponent.

**Ninpou: Seishin Tousha** (Ninja Arts: Spirit Projection) (C-Rank: Moderate Chakra Consumption)

A jutsu developed by Yamanaka Ino. It was based on her clans technique, **Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu** (Ninja Arts: Mind Transfer Technique). Rather than transfering her consciusness, it projects memories. It works on people and flat inanimate object. After its completion, it was sanctioned as a standard ANBU jutsu.


	2. The Travel and a Friend

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and all that**

**Warnings: Violence, Language, and implied questionable activities. NO YAOI**

The Travel and a Friend

It was frustrating.

The minute they leave the office, they split up into two groups. The first one being Asura and Moegi, the second one being him and _her_. No reaction, no nod of acknowledgment, no nothing. For a moment there he considered pulling his hair if not for the fact the moment he did so she will give him her clan's patented Hyuuga Glare which looks condescending and made you feel insignificant and worthless.

He cursed mentally. After eight grueling years he finally managed to melt those ices in her. She opened up to him, albeit slowly. He managed to get her smile, to hear her laugh. And two days ago happened. It screwed everything up. He supposed he sounds selfish, but he couldn't help it. All of his clan members have died by the time he was seventeen. Just a few days ago they had a picnic in the clearing near the Hokage Mountain, and now instead of those chilling ice, there was this tall, imposing fortress stood erect around her.

Seeing her so closed off now brought a twinge of sadness through his heart. He still remembered that dead look in her eyes as she stared at the headless remains of her clan members.

_Flashback_

_Battles rage all around him. Oto has allied with Iwa. Even with a glance he knew those Iwa shinobis are formidable. Many of the Oto forces were cannon fodder giving plenty of times for the elites from Iwa to sneak and ambush Konoha troops swiftly. Thankfully the Rokudaime has ordered all ANBU personnel aside from those in vacation including the special unit Kuroboshi to stay in Konoha and patrol in each designated areas after the return of a chuunin four days ago on the sightings of a group of thugs wearing Oto hitai-ates, so they were not completely surprised by the attack. _

_When the first sound of battle was heard, he ordered his team each to different areas of Konoha's prominent clan's compound with him going to the Hyuuga District. Creeping quickly and stealthily he sees a cluster of the Hyuuga Branch members fighting a squad of Iwa shinobi and around three platoons of Oto forces (Two of them are groups of thugs wearing Oto hitai-ate) with the remaining six members of the Main House standing in the middle in a ready battle stance .The patriarch Hyuuga Hiashi, the current Clan Head Hyuuga Hinata, his own close friend Hyuuga Hanabi, and three elders, all looked ready to charge. He supposed it cannot be helped. Those Hyuugas are dominating the battle. The thugs were dropping like flies and he could see around three jounins and four chuunins from Oto lying dead on the ground while not one Hyuuga was yet killed_

_When he got closer and ready to join the battle a movement from the Main House group caught his eyes. One elder took of and charge…one of their own? Now he was confused. Hearing the cries from both Hanabi and Hinata, he realized that the one being struck down was Hyuuga Neji, captain of ANBU Team 1 in the Hunter-nin Division as well as Head of the Hunter-nin Division. A look of surprise passed through his eyes before it was replaced by a blank lifeless stare. He died from a Jyuuken strike to the heart._

_Silence spread across the battlefield as both sides were staring at the falling figure of one Hyuuga Neji. When his lifeless body touched the ground in a resounding thunk, He looked at the traitor and saw him doing some hand seals. Reacting quickly, He performed hand seals and breathed a **Katon: Karyuu Endan** (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet) incinerating many of the remaining hitai-ate wearing thugs and one shinobi from Iwa all the way to the back-stabbing Hyuuga. Unfortunately, one of the shinobi from Iwa used **Doton: Doryuuheki **(Earth Release: Earth Wall) and blocked the roaring blaze, allowing the bastard to finish his set of _

_The moment he noticed the smirk, he knew the jutsu was something bad. But he never imagined something like that would happen. One by one the Branch House members clutched their heads and screamed in pain. He watched in fascination as all their heads exploded in flames leaving nothing behind besides headless corpses._

"_Noooooooo!" He heard both Hinata and Hanabi screaming. He noticed that most of the enemy's attention was focused on the carnage so he made some hand seals and whispered, **Ninpou: Kamereon no Jutsu** (Ninja Arts: Chameleon Technique). He prepared the blade in his personalized katars and stealthily killed all the remaining thugs and two Oto jounins before the others caught on._

"_Watch out, it's the Chameleon! He must be the one who fired that Flame Dragon." The shinobi who blocked his jutsu warned his allies._

_He watched as the battle resumed between the five remaining Hyuugas and four Iwa jounins, two Oto jounins and five Oto chuunins. He reacted too late when a palm strike hit his left shoulder sending him flying to the walls of the compound. He spat some blood and looked at one smirking face of the traitor. His jutsu was useless in front of Byakugan and he forgot that one, a member of the Main House no less, had betrayed them just moments ago. He cursed his carelessness and watched hopelessly as the traitor's hand move closer and closer. He heard a gasp as the man gave a startled squeak and collapsed, dead._

_Looking up, he got a wrenching feeling in his stomach seeing his close friend's tear-streaked face, trembling uncontrollably. He caught her body when she fainted as he look over her shoulder to see the two elders dead with earth spikes going through their bodies. 'Those Iwa jounins are good,' he thought silently. Setting Hanabi on the ground he performed hand seals and yelled the jutsu taught by the Rokudaime Hokage, **Doton: Yomi Numa** (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld) trapping two Iwa jounins who were cornering Hinata and letting Hinata finish them. The five Sound chuunins surrounding Hiashi were all dead with some well-placed Jyuuken strikes._

_Suddenly from the mansion a voice yelled, **Doton: Doryuu Dangan**! (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Missile Strike) and from the remains of the half destroyed compound rose a twenty-foot dragon charging at Hiashi. He was about to help when the remaining two Oto jounins engage him and Hinata, stopping them from interfering. Hiashi used the famed **Hakkeshou: Kaiten **(Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin) and repel the jutsu, destroying the dragon in the process, but he didn't notice the other Iwa jounin flashed through hand seals and send earth spikes as his spinning momentum ceased. He didn't have time to dodge. He managed to throw two kunais at the jounin's neck before he was impaled by the spikes and breathed his last._

_Enraged by the death of her father Hinata blurred and quickly destroyed one of the Oto jounin's skull before launching herself to whom he presumed to be the squad leader from Iwa. The jounin throw some kunais made from the rubble hoping to buy time so he could get a distance. Instead of dodging, she keeps charging towards the enemy, not even flinching when the kunais were embedded in her stomach and right shoulder. Using **Hakke: Hyaku Nijyuu Hasshou** (Eight Trigrams: One-Hundred Twenty Eight Strikes) she killed the enemy before he could evade and collapsed from her injuries along with chakra and mental exhaustion. He tried to get to her but the Oto jounin he was facing did not give him any chance to do so. He keeps firing kunais and shurikens that emits strange shockwave at contact not giving any time to do hand seals and keeps his distance. When he was about to do a risky maneuver involving him getting hit by some of those weapons, he heard soft moaning and looks around to see Hanabi gaining consciousness._

"_Ouch, wha….where am I?" She murmured confusedly._

_Distracted, he didn't see his opponent throwing shurikens to the waking girl and reacted too late to see Hinata taking those shurikens on her stomach, saving her sister. The enemy took the chance and ran off to another part of the town and he watched as Hanabi regained her bearings and tried desperately to stop the bleeding in Hinata's stomach. He winced, knowing that there is no hope. Holding the distraught girl, he held her as they watched Hyuuga Hinata, the Clan Head of the Hyuuga Clan, took a shaky breath and left the world of living, a smile on her face._

_After a moment staring at the bodies of her family, she stood up and said softly in a dead voice, with a blank face, "Let's go. The battle here is over." He wanted to protest, but the look on her face as well as the truth of her statement made him held his tongue._

"_Let's go" He replied with a hard expression._

After that she ignored him. Whenever she refers to him, she always used insults with a snide tone and never looks him in the eyes. He was hurt. He wanted to comfort her and needed the comfort she could give him. It's not like he didn't lose anyone. He lost friends and most importantly he lost four of his subordinates in the Kuroboshi. He didn't even have time to mourn their deaths. There were just too many casualties, with some may still be buried somewhere beneath the collapsed buildings, so they were just counting the survivors and piled the bodies, burned them and buried their ashes in a large clearing where they were planning to put a memorial stone in the middle with their names on it. These last two days had totally been hectic. He heaved another frustrated sigh as they passed the perimeter of the abandoned Uchiha compound and hope that something will happen in next week's meeting.

* * *

It was depressing. 

Her parents already died, killed in the Danzou Rebellion. Now she is the only surviving member of her clan, no thanks to Oto and Iwa for destroying her family compound and everyone in it while she was somewhere else, giving commands to some ANBU and hacking the enemies.

It was really perfectly timed. Only 7 months after the death of Godaime and destruction of almost a quarter of Konoha's forces by the attack of all nine members of Akatsuki to obtain the last Bijuu along with the betrayal of many shinobis that turned out to be spies from Oto who took the opportunity to destroy Konoha, and 2 months after the almost successful joint attack by Kusa and Ame to Suna whom asked for Konoha's help as its ally. In other words, Konoha was screwed.

Now here she is, an ANBU Commander sitting with the Rokudaime, searching seals to complete a jutsu they've been developing ever since his early ascension to Hokage position. She keeps wondering how she made it to this position, and brought herself to one defining memory of a battle and a conversation that turned out to be the starting point of her being serious in her job as a kunoichi of Konoha.

_Flashback_

_Watching Hidan and Kakuzu of the Akatsuki, she felt weak. While the others were fighting, she did nothing besides throwing random shurikens to help Shikamaru and Naruto distract Hidan, while the others went to destroy Kakuzu and his remaining three hearts. When Naruto used his newly developed **Fuuton: Rasengan** (Wind Release: Spiral Ball) at Hidan, destroying his body, ejecting a small brain attached to a heart covered with seals, she thought they had won. Shikamaru, realizing the secret behind Hidan's immortality, quickly slashed it, causing it to explode with a bright flash. Acting foolishly, she went to Hidan's body and kicking it while cursing. Not noticing the moving pile under her, she only realized what's happening when she was forcefully pushed to the side and watches the horrifying scene._

_Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting exhausted, with Sakura healing their injuries and Sai guarding them. Yamato, hands in position of Uma (Horse) hand seal was focusing on Kakashi who managed to evade Kakuzu's attack while Kakuzu had his heart pierced by a wooden spear. She should be feeling elated if not for Chouji who pushed her and took Kakuzu's attack. The swirling red tentacles went straight to Chouji's heart and rip it off his body, killing Chouji instantly. She watched in horror, as another Kakuzu came out beneath Chouji's corpse, grabbed the heart and squeezing it until some of its blood gathered and forms a mask. Without a warning she was kicked across the clearing and blacking out. Later on, she woke up in Konoha's hospital and was told by Sakura that Kakuzu escaped because he managed to steal Chouji's heart before Yamato's spear pierced his last heart._

_After that, she blamed herself and went to a depression. When asked, he said he didn't blame her, but strangely enough Shikamaru kept avoiding her. It went on for two months until Sakura invited to celebrate her birthday. The entire famous Rookie Nine came. She saw Sakura informing Naruto that the remaining Rookie Nine along with Rock Lee, Tenten, and Hyuuga Neji keeps in touch and often come to such gatherings. When she was looking for a place to sit, she overheard two people whispering, she saw it was Temari and Shikamaru and couldn't help but to eavesdrop. _

"_Why don't you just tell her? You will be leaving anyway and it's better than not telling her anything." She heard Temari speaking with an annoyed tone._

"_I can't. Every time I see her face, it keeps reminding me of Chouji, the battle, her stupidity….I know it is wrong, but I kept wondering why she didn't do anything, why I didn't do anything….how troublesome."_

_Hearing that, she felt anger. She wanted to slap him, punch him, or do anything painful. But she can't, she realized. She knows that Shikamaru is right. So she excuse herself, went home to her room, and cried while promising in her heart to be strong and that she would be a great kunoichi so she could protect her friends and family._

Exactly three months after the party, Shikamaru transferred to Suna, and permanently removed from Konoha shinobi ranks. Even though she knew beforehand, it still hurts when his mother announced it in a gathering of all Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichis. It hurts because he didn't have the decency to tell her directly. But she was okay; she had promised to herself that she would be strong. She trained hard and six months later applied for a position in the ANBU ranks and was accepted in Team 4 of the Assassination and Subterfuge Division.

Sensing excited mutterings, she cut her reminiscing and turned her head just to see Naruto reading something with a wide grin that keeps getting wider the more he reads it.

"What did you find?" She said, snapping his attention to her.

"I found it. This is the final seal we needed for that jutsu. It was quite complicated but I think I can manage to do it before two weeks is up." He exclaimed with joy.

"Eh? What is going on in two weeks?" She asked, confused.

"Oh, that's right. When you went out for a while earlier to help Shizune-nee-chan, my spying foxes, Kira and Yuki, came to inform me that a large gathering of shinobis from Kumo are camping just four miles to the North East of Fire Country's border and they heard from the chattering that Kumo shinobis were originally allied with Oto and Iwa, but decided to retreat at the last moment and attack Otogakure no Sato in Rice Field Country instead." He explained, his earlier exuberance gone.

"What?"

"I was surprised, too. Kira also heard about something big happening in two weeks but couldn't catch anything more before they stopped speaking. Putting the pieces together, well, we really need this jutsu to work before that happens." He said with a weak smile."

"What do you…." She said before widening her eyes, comprehending the situation. "Are you serious?" she screamed, loosing her calm exterior.

"Yeah, although their forces were weakened after decimating Oto, we are nowhere near ready for such army. It is either using this jutsu, or unsealing all of my 'other' tenketsus, unleashing Kyuubi's full power, which only available for three minutes before the strain destroys my body and its backlash destroys the whole Fire Country."

She could only stare with her mouth open while he continues his reading, muttering something once in a while.

* * *

It was disheartening. 

After one full week of digging and burying, he thought everything would be better. The children started training again, the rest of the civilians started rebuilding again. But it got worse. Many of the children just mope around; many of the civilians just stare and cry at the sight of their crumbled home. This is not what he was expecting for his first year as the Hokage.

He tried so hard to gain recognition, to gain their appreciation, but something or someone always screwed it all up. He was, at 23, the youngest Hokage in the history of Konoha, beating his father. People started to respect him, they started to acknowledge him, and it all came down. It actually started after the Chuunin Exams. Although not by much, he got less glares and insults, and it got better when he came back with Tsunade and they looked close and friendly.

Then Sasuke left. He pleaded for him to come back, but it was all for naught and for his own stupid selfish reason (and his stupid promise to Sakura) he stopped his attack from killing Sasuke and instead slashed his hitai-ate. After that, it was like before, people glaring, talking behind his back, so he left with Jiraiya.

Two years and a half passed and he went back to Konoha. His training with Jiraiya has calmed both him and the villagers some. To be truthful, when he came back only a few people glared at him. From there, things start to look up. He saved Gaara, found a lead on Orochimaru which leads him on finding Sasuke, completed the **Rasengan**, and many other things.

His plunge to the ground started with the death of Sarutobi Asuma, which leads to the battle against two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu. His team was only there as back-ups, but seeing the condition of the other team it was a much needed back-up. They defeated Hidan, but Kakuzu managed to both kill Chouji and save himself by taking Chouji's heart. He was made chuunin and Shikamaru transferred to Suna five months after. When asked how he got the Chuunin Rank, Tsunade explained that promotion to chuunin is not only decided by the Chuunin Exams and all the other technicalities are only for the Hokage and the Council of the Clan Heads to know.

Then Sakura happened. At first, he was happy. _Wow, Sakura-chan asked me out on a date!_ He kept thinking. They dated for three years. It was not a pleasant coupling, however. Whenever they are alone she kept punching him and told him not to touch her like doing so was an act of defiling an angel, she even said so. He apologized even though he kept wondering if it is how couples act when not in public, but shoved that thought to the back of his mind since by doing so he made Sakura-chan happy. Her family was not pleased to know that she is dating the 'Demon' and kept throwing scathing remarks whenever he visits. On their third anniversary, he did the single thing he regretted the most in his life (Although at that time he thought it was the greatest thing he ever did), he proposed to her.

It was really not that surprising. Shinobis do not have high life-expectancy and many of them married young to ensure a legacy for their name and family in fear of leaving no descendant by dying on the field. When he popped the question, she looked honestly surprised and stunned to silence. However, when he was about to apologize and take it back, she smiled like she never before with a glint in her eyes and replied an affirmation. He saw the glint but decided to ignore it and announce their engagement with a shout and a joyful expression.

Three months later, on the day of their wedding, one Haruno Sakura, Apprentice of the Slug Sannin, along with her parents left Konoha to join Otogakure no Sato. On the same day, she was married to one Uchiha Sasuke, Apprentice of Orochimaru the Snake Sannin, and send the marriage invitation to one Uzumaki Naruto, Apprentice of the Frog Sannin, along with a letter filled with insults and degrading comments on how she would never think of him as more than trash, much less marry him.

He was crushed. Utterly and totally crushed. Kakashi was reinstated as ANBU and their team was disbanded.

He was alone. Again.

Only one week after that, the Danzou Rebellion started. It was a bad year for Konoha. Traitors left and right, supported by ninja forces from Oto. He was sitting alone, moping in the middle of a clearing when the first explosion was heard. He surmised that Konoha was under attack so he left and get ready for battle. Seeing an Oto hitai-ate on an enemy shinobi, he quickly plunged a kunai to his throat and steeled himself. Some people are in need of a serious ass-kicking and he's in a mood to give one.

When he heard Kakashi shouting Iruka's name amidst the fighting, he never imagined the scene that follows. Kakashi was holding a dying Iruka (A/N: They are good friends, NOT couples) when Sakura came from above, shoving her left fist, aiming at his back. He reacted a second too late and with Iruka weighing him, Kakashi got his left leg crushed. Before Sakura could move, he grabbed her wrist with his left arm, charging a **Raikiri** with his right and thrusting it to her face. She managed to pull her arm in the last second and dodged the thrust at her face, making him lose his balance and lean forwards, his charged hand shoving through her left elbow and cutting it off completely. He saw Kakashi trying to gain his balance and moved to help him when someone moved from behind Kakashi and before his eyes he saw his former best friend, Uchiha Sasuke, thrust his sword through his sensei's heart, killing him, grab the screaming Sakura and took off after sneering at him. That's when his 'happy' world collapsed.

After the funeral, he demanded to watch Sai, but Tsunade said that he would be detained for a year before he was let out. Hearing that, he asked permission for a one-year training trip, alone. She was about to object when she saw the look in his eyes and nodded, not giving any comment whatsoever. He came back a changed man and joined ANBU Team 2 of the Hunter-nin Division. At 20, he proposed to Tsunade the forming of a special ANBU unit consisting of seven members of highly skilled ninja working right under the Hokage's order and not answers to anyone else. Two weeks after the proposal, the special ANBU unit Kuroboshi was formed. He was the captain with Yamanaka Ino as his Vice-Captain; along with another five of his choice and Sai as their secretary and advisor (He holds the jounin rank, but still not on the active roster) made the Kuroboshi an assortment of multi-talented people (or freaks as some called it). Even so, they worked so well that not only the unit itself, but also each of their members became famous and feared among their enemies. They, both as a team an individually, were ranked high in each village's Bingo Book. With three S-Ranks, three A-Ranks and one B-Rank shinobis in their team they were elevated as an AA-Rank highly dangerous unit in only two years. He was really proud of the team's achievements. He became the youngest ever ANBU Commander at 22, and the youngest Hokage at 23. At 24-years of age and in about one and a half week from now, he will become the shortest time in office as well as the last Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Oh Joy.

Now, he was sitting in front of the youngest looking old woman he ever met (Somehow it sounded like an oxymoron. By the way, Tsunade doesn't count because she used a Genjutsu), 57-years old Shiranui Mai. At her age, Mai looked like she was in her late-thirties or early-forties. She is a stunning woman with long, wavy brown hair and creamy skin, covered in a red ceremonial kimono. At the moment, she was covering the bottom of her face, trying not to laugh out loud. After a lengthy discussion of the village's condition and the upcoming meeting as well as his secret plan, here he was, the Rokudaime Hokage, talking to her about female problems. After Tsunade's death, she was the closest thing to a mother to him. They met at the forming of Kuroboshi. Tsunade said that she was too busy to answer questions about the unit from the Councils, so they made a compromise. Every month, a representative from the Councils will go to their headquarters and question them him/herself. Shiranui Mai was the representative

"So, Aunty, there is this woman, she is…I…" he stuttered

"You know young man, I don't think Ino would mind going out for a date or two, why don't you just ask her?" she cut to the point while inwardly smirking in anticipation for his reaction.

"Really? You think so? Maybe I should…ask…her…" he trailed, blushed crimson and stand up, pointing at her smiling face, "Hey, how come you know she's Ino! Um…I mean…Uh…you trucked me!" He exclaimed and proceeds to cross his arms and pouted.

She laughed. Seeing the Hokage flustered is really fun. Making him blush and stutter is her favorite past time. It was better than his forever frowning face when he was still in ANBU. She just hopes that the jutsu works; it would be a long-awaited miracle.

* * *

It was thrilling. 

The tension was high. All high-ranked shinobis and highly-skilled retired ones along with the member of the Village Council were gathered in the room. All civilians and shinobis had been informed of the situation and none of them leave the village. It was nice seeing that happy and relieved look on his face, to know that his people still believe in him. If this jutsu succeeds, that handsome face will be replaced by a cute and adorable grin, it will be quite a while before it transform into this man. She fell in love with him. To be quite honest, it started as a purely physical attraction. Now, seeing him in the middle of the room, she must say, falling in love with him is not hard to do. He stood tall (6'1") with black sleeveless muscle T-shirt, black cargo pants, green jounin vest, black forearm guards, blood red fingerless gloves, black ninja sandals, blood red socks and blood red haori with the kanji 六(Six) painted on its back in yellow. His bright blonde hair is long and styled the same as his mentor, Jiraiya of the Sannin. Physically, he looked like a devilishly handsome devil. Personality wise, he's an angel. Charming, calm, polite, wise, but strangely childish, he lost the stupid loud-mouthed persona, although he is still dense, always playful and stubborn to a fault. _Oh how I love that man_, she mused inwardly.

The room is spacious and dark. Everyone besides him stood in the corner. He is painting intricate seals using his blood. It was a big assortment of seals. It looked like a triangle, with another triangle on each of its points. On each of the smaller triangle's points, there are seals formed into circles large enough for a person to sit in the middle of it without disturbing the edges. In the middle of the large triangle, there are seals formed into the shape of a five-point star inside a circle with the kanji 時(Time) in the middle of the star.

_So, not only it allows him to call nine souls to override the sacrifices, he is also using the five-point pentagram star seal's soul containment property to surround the area inside the triangle, providing a barrier that prevents leaks that could cause a backlash which will ruin the technique and send my soul to oblivion which will increase the percentage of this jutsu working to over ninety-percent, _she thought excitedly after observing the seal, having read about it..

They have been toying on the idea of time-traveling ever since Tsunade's untimely death. In his thousands years of knowledge gained from his merger with Kyuubi, she was informed that for demons, time doesn't matter. That's why Bijuus sleep for thousands of years and not waking up if they are not disturbed. Kyuubi attacked Konoha because some stupid ninjas attacked him, trying to gain some fame, or so she heard from what could be discerned of Kyuubi's memories, but that's a thought for another time. Strangely enough, Kyuubi's knowledge did not merge with his memories. It was just there, another entity in his mind that can be recalled anytime he wants. It is like he has this one giant know-it-all thingy in his head and all he had to do is ask (Or think in this case).

Garnering from those knowledge, based on her clan's **Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu** (Ninja Arts: Mind Body Switch Technique), she can use it to send her consciousness to her past, and meld it with her past's soul. When this theory was pointed out, she got skeptical and kept asking questions on the technicalities. Reciting from Kyuubi's memories, he answered all of them precisely and somehow full of validity. She gave arguments about this future which will become a past, and what will happen, more importantly how that will happen.

He replied that according to Kyuubi's Library (That's what they call it); it was just as she said it. This future will become her past, and when she melded with her past self, there will be a shift in time, making this future, which will be her past, invalid. This shift will create a divergence at the point of time she's returning, creating many different pathways which lead to a new future. As to how it will happen, he said that he has been thinking on things that he could change to make a better Konoha and by doing those things, Konoha would change for the better.

Getting interested in all these knowledge of Time Paradox, she asked about the possibilities of this idea coming into fruition. After hearing many sound arguments on her questions, she got really interested and asked one thing that came to her mind the first time she heard the idea, the resurrection of the dead. If this idea really works, then she could she everyone again, which means they are alive, but they were dead. He goes on a rant about how it is not a resurrection jutsu, because there is nothing that could be done on reviving the dead. Then he goes on about since this is a time-shift jutsu, it overrode things like death and all that. He continued to explain about the consistency and existence of Time. It's just there, not affected by anything, but affects almost everything.

After discussing on the technicalities, he told her that with the use of his demonic chakra and a forgotten set of seals and its activation called **Kyuumei no Fuuin: Jitenka** (Seal of Nine Lives: Time Shift), they could send someone to any point of time of their life as long as it has connection to the sacred number of '9'. But, there is a flaw which is only demon chakra could activate the 時'Time' seal inside the complicated pattern, and as the name suggest, it took 9 sacrifices. Even then, only demons could handle the strain of their bodies shifted to another time, since it doesn't affect them. But, it only works in the Demon Realm. In this realm, the demons could not bypass some things such as in Kyuubi's example, he had no authority over the Death God, so he could not break the seal and do as he please. And if somehow they got sealed, they won't be able to bypass them, since the gifts of chakra and seals are something given to humans by the ruling being of this realm.

He told her that after mulling over the thought, he got an idea when he watched her sending her memories to the viewing wall, on a meeting with the ANBU Division's Heads. Then he explained to her that since human bodies could not handle the strain, why not just send their soul. Using her jutsu, they could modify it to send her to the past. He also told her that she is the only one who could do it since her mind is already trained since young, and in her body, the blood genetics of a human with a high mental capacity and capability flows so the merger won't destroy her mind. At first, he thought about sending himself, he could learn the jutsu, and his mental condition won't be damaged since he was already used with the presence of the Kyuubi. But, since the Kyuubi is still there nine years ago, he was afraid the mental strain will cause Kyuubi's persona to leak out and dominate his body.

After his explanations, she readily agreed.

They searched for seals to perfect the jutsu, discussing on what she had to do after she got back, what should change, what should stay, they did everything to prepare for it, but then Suna was attacked. After that, they decided to postpone the project and concentrate on the present. Two months later Konoha was attacked and in another two weeks after that, a high possibility it will be destroyed. So, his discovery of the Pentagram Seal was like a godsend. They will save Konoha.

Now, here she is, waiting for the signal from the man she loves to leave and save them all. After a brief explanation, the remaining four ANBUs and five jounins (Sai not included) goes and take a seat inside the sacrifice circles, forming the Ryuu (Dragon) hand seal to concentrate and send their chakra through the large patterns to activate each circles, making it glows with blue chakra. To be truthful, anyone with the knowledge to activate exploding tags could do it, but these shinobis got the honors. Sai and three chuunins are outside the seal's perimeter creating a barrier to contain everything inside incase anything happens. Then she steps in, standing above the big Kanji with Naruto.

He performs some hand seals and slams his palm to the ground, activating the pentagram and summoning nine wisps of flame which goes to each circle and hover above each person inside it; she guessed they were the souls. Then he does the hand seal for **Kyuukouken**, but instead of charging the chakra tails, the chakra goes through his feet to each lines of the pentagram, coating them with demonic chakra, erecting a small cone-shaped red barrier around the two of them. It was a sight to behold; red conic barrier in the center, surrounded by blue lines of triangles with wisps above each circle, and a square violet barrier shielding it all.

He looks at her, smiles, and says, "This is it. Don't forget about us, okay." he hugs her and continue softly, "Go save us all, princess."

She blushed, slaps him, and does something she would never forget and regret. She grabs his head forcing it to look at her after the slap, pulls him, and proceeds to give him a very passionate kiss. He kissed her back with equal fervor after overcoming his astonishment and they melt together. She broke the kiss and says clearly, "I love you" before performing some hand seals, ending in her clan's trademark hand seal and performs the jutsu. She sees his smiling face before a bright light, and she knew no more.

* * *

It was pleasant. 

For nine years-old Uzumaki Naruto today was one of those rare days that could be called pleasant. It started this weekend morning. He was doing things as usual, waking up, brushing his teeth, freshen up, and eating a cup of instant ramen for breakfast. After that he, as usual, go to the park where he sees many kids his age playing with their friends and families and he, as usual, climbs a tree watching them.

Today was a little different. While he was watching, two girls sat on a bench near the tree he was on. One with pink hair with ribbon adorned on her head, and another blond haired one wearing some type of fishnet tank top. He watched as the pink haired one said something while glaring coldly and walked away while the blonde haired one just sat there shocked still. Then the blonde girl suddenly looked sad, and lonely.

He was confused. _Why did she just sat there and not say anything?_ He wondered. _That pink haired girl was being mean. She made the blonde girl sad. Could she be the same as me? I don't think so. She didn't look like a demon child, but neither do I. _He continued wondering.

After a while, he was about to leave the girl alone when there was a strange pull on his mind and he decided to climb down the tree and cheer her up, hoping she won't run away like the others. He approached her and spoke with a soft voice so unlike his usual loud and obnoxious yell, "Hey there, you okay?"

* * *

It was nice. 

If there was one word to describe today in Yamanaka Ino's young life, it would be nice. Actually it started out badly. The pretty nine years-old girl was woken up from dreaming of her marriage with the ever-wonderful Sasuke-kun by the sound of something breaking (it was a vase, though that simple fact won't register in her sleep-induced hazy mind just yet) and her mother yelling. When she checked, it was the sight of her father's pale, red-eyed face that led her to the conclusion that her father and his drinking buddies from the Nara and Akimichi Clans had gone to the bar, drinking. After taking a shower (using the beauty shower set) and brushing her teeth, it finally registered to her mind that her father was in a hang-over state and most likely knocked out a vase while trying to go to the dining room, resulting the sound that woke her up and her mother yelling.

_Oh well, not like it hadn't happened before_, she thought while giggling all the way to the dining room.

Finishing her breakfast, she remembered that yesterday Sakura asked to meet her at the park today at 9.00 o'clock. She wondered what for. _It's just the end of the first week of the new school year, and I already told her that I won't skip the year because I wanted to graduate with her. Maybe she just missed me and our talk in the park, gosh I missed her too. Even though we met everyday we hardly talked because the first week is another orientation and there were students skipping and staying the year in the academy so I think there is nothing wrong with this meeting._

How wrong she was.

Watching Sakura, it maybe her stiff posture, or the strained voice in her greeting, the fake smile or even her slightly cold eyes, but Ino can see that something is not right with her best friend. She watched as Haruno Sakura with pink hair flying motioned for her to sit in one of the benches near a tree. Then there was silence.

"Ne, Ino-chan, you like Sasuke-kun, right?" Sakura whispered after a while.

"Eh? What are you talking about Sakura-chan? Of course I like Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed blushingly, while inside she wondered what this is all about and couldn't shake the dread feeling in her chest. _What is wrong with me! Turning paranoid all of a sudden._

Sakura stood her body facing away from Ino. The dread feeling in Ino increased as Sakura just stood there facing away and keep silent. Then, she suddenly turned to glare coldly and said "From now on we are rivals!" and walked away leaving Ino staring at her back.

Ino was speechless. The day had gone from bad hearing your mom yell out in the morning to worse. Although Sakura only said six words after her strange question, the cold glare and the way she said it makes the meaning clear. _We won't be friends anymore_. And it was all because of one boy.

After a lengthy silence she felt sad and lonely and her face showed it all. _All that, because of a boy?_ She wondered. She kept thinking of what happened to her friendship with Sakura and how it shattered because they liked the same boy. _A boy who doesn't even care no less_, she thought bitterly.

Suddenly she heard a soft voice called out to her, "Hey there, you okay?"

She turned around to see a boy her age wearing orange pants with orange jacket looking at her curiously. Her attention falls to his face, bright blonde hair, deep blue eyes, with three lines on each side of his face making it look like whisker marks. She was still staring at his face when he repeated his question.

Startled, she stammered a response, "I, I'm fine!" while at the same time blushing from embarrassment.

"Oh, ok then. By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?" he exclaimed.

"I am Yamanaka Ino, you can call me Ino. Nice to meet you." Ino said, wondering what is this boy doing here and can't help feeling suspicious.

"Nice to meet you too Ino, you can call me Naruto." He said, looking strangely relieved and unmistakably happy. "Umm…" Ino started trying to find out his intentions when Naruto cut her off, "I was there the whole time." He said simply. At Ino's questioning look, "I saw you talking with the pink haired girl and looked kinda…sad…and lonely when she walked away, cough cough, so I just come out here to see if I could cheer you up, heheh." He explained embarrassedly scratching the back of his neck.

Ino sat there looking perplexed._ He was there? But I didn't sense him. Isn't he that troublemaker Naruto? If I'm not mistaken he is the dead-last in our class. Then how could I not sense him? I was the best girl at stealth along with my taijutsu in our year, and I did well at the other aspects for being a ninja that I was recommended to skip a year, so why did I not sense a common boy like him? Why would he 'cheer me up' as he said it? Why did he look happy when I answered his greetings? And why am I thinking about all this? AAAH!_

The look on her face must be really funny because the boy suddenly chuckled and asked, "Are you okay? You look funny."

Her face turned red in embarrassment, _Uhh, how DARE he,_ and Ino, embarrassment turned to anger, snapped at him, "What do you mean I look funny?" He looked scared and stumbled on his words, "Umm, no, no, that's not what I meant! I mean you look fine, but, umm, you didn't look fine, umm, okay! You didn't look…okay." He finished lamely

Satisfied with his answer and obviously seeing his distress, she laughed. She laughed quite loudly and suddenly she realized that with Sakura gone, somehow she felt…free. Free from babysitting Sakura, no more crybaby dead-weight to tag along. Although she feels a little guilty from thinking them in the first place, she realized that Sakura was the one breaking their friendship or whatever they called it. _Well then, now I can work on skipping the year and become a good kunoichi just like that Anko lady._ She look at the boy, no, Naruto, she couldn't help but feel grateful. For he cheered her up in a matter of minutes, and although at first his action was questionable, just moments with him, she already felt his genuine concern lift up her spirits and warmly, with a dazzling smile she said, "Thank you."

The boy blushed embarrassedly and with a slow, hesitant smile he said, "You are welcome."

After that, there is a strange pull on her mind and before she could think or realize to stop, she told him everything about her. Her fears, her concerns, her insecurities, and then her memories, good and bad, her likes (No it doesn't involve a boy), dislikes, dreams, favorite food, color, everything. And hesitantly, but surely, the boy opened up to her. From his earliest memory being thrown out of the orphanage when he was three, his loneliness, his life, everything poured out of his mouth. Every pent up anger, frustration, fear, and sadness exploded in a river of tears as she held him while crying herself. _What is the matter with those people! He did not look like anything demon nor did he look like a monster and he definitely did not act like it_. She tried to find the reason but couldn't think of anything so she just hugged him and let him cry. She didn't mind. In her mind, everybody need a good cry at least once, both boys and girls, and this, Naruto, had his life messed up so much with millions of why's hanging around unanswered that even though it won't answer his problems, he needs the cry to lessen his mind from the pent up emotions to let go and accept, so that his mind and heart would at least had the chance to heal, and be stronger.

She keeps repeating in her mind the content of the psychology and human sociology book that her father gave her to prepare her for her clan's jutsus, and it gave her a little insight on Naruto's mind. She knew that after letting go and acceptance, he needs new bonds and recognition. Not the type of recognition where he is coddled and treated like god for no reason than pity and hero-worshipping, but a type of recognition where another person sees you as a fellow human being and recognize you, acknowledge your existence, and be there for you. Strange as it is, she silently vows to be that person for him. This boy, whom she just met, had made her day wonderful, and she hopes she could do the same for him.

After the strange but relieving experience of pouring their hearts out, Ino Like she just met a close friend whom she hadn't seen for a while and catching up things. She felt free from her father's constant urging to be best friends with his friends sons and be a ninja together, free from her mother's nagging to be just a flower girl and not be a ninja altogether, free from her stupid dream of a stuck-up prince who messed up her friendship and doesn't even care, and free from having to act like a stuck-up princess, be a bitch, and putting up a mask of an innocent and spoiled brat. Free And here they are talking, joking, laughing, and sharing experiences in their lives until her stomach start to rumble. Only then she noticed that the sun is setting in the horizon and she wondered again. She just met him this morning and felt so content in his presence that she didn't realize she had spent seven hours not caring anything and everything around them. She had found a friend. Not just another friend, but a true friend, and she smiled at that.

"Ino…" he started, hesitantly.

"Yes?" she queried, silently wondering what's on his mind. "Would you be my friend?" he asked in a shy and quiet voice. She considered joking and said 'no' just to see his reaction. But, considering what he had just told her, he really needed this and that is why she settled for a nod, a smile, and a simple yet firm "Sure" and from his reaction, her smile grew into a wide grin so wide that it threatened to split her face.

"YATTA!!" he exclaimed as he grinned and hugged her, his eyes sparkled showing his happiness. Noticing the time, he released the hug and said in a cheery voice, "Ja ne, Ino-chan!" unconsciously adding the suffix –chan to his first friend's name. After he's gone, she lightly turned and bounced her way back home, feeling content and happy.

* * *

That night as they both lay in their respective beds; they felt something tug in their minds. Suddenly, unbearable pain exploded in their heads and everything went blank. They were unconscious.

* * *

Author's Note:

Here you go; the second chapter. It's longer and I hope has a better quality than the previous chapter. To be truthful, I am kinda disappointed with the fight scene and lack of conversations. But I'm glad it's done. Hopefully you got a good read.

A little fact about the Shiranui Clan. The Shiranui Clan is a renowned fire and fan using clan. The Uchiha's fire manipulation fame, name, and clan symbol were originated from this clan. The third generation of the Uchiha Clan Head married a member of the Shiranui Clan. At that time there were no clan members, only a man with a powerful new Doujutsu as a kekkei genkai, inherited from his grandfather. After copying and incorporating his wife's fighting style with his own, he decided to build a new clan, a clan to protect, and a powerful clan as revered as the Hyuuga Clan. He named it the Uchiha Clan. His birth name was forgotten and lost, he was known as Uchiha Kotaro, father of one Uchiha Madara. (I made it all up :P)

About Sakura. I don't really hate her, nor I dislike her that much, but with her characterization and how this story will proceed, bashing her and making her a pain in the ass is a given. Sorry for those Sakura Lovers.

As for Uchiha Sasuke, he won't have that important of a role. That simple.

For the readers and reviewers, I want to say thank you for reading, and thank you for your comments. Hopefully I can reach your expectations. Well, see you for the next chapter.

Foreverclear. Forever Yours..

Jutsu:

**Katon: Karyuu Endan** (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile) (A-Rank: High Chakra Consumption)

An offensive fire jutsu. Creates a smoldering dragon made of fire and send it at the enemy. The higher version of **Katon: Karyuudan** (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile)

**Doton: Doryuuheki **(Earth Release: Earth Wall) (B-Rank: Moderate Chakra Consumption)

A defensive earth jutsu. Spits out some mud and hardening it with chakra, creating wall to defend against attacks

**Ninpou: Kamereon no Jutsu** (Ninja Arts: Chameleon Technique) (C-Rank: Low Chakra Consumption)

An invisibility jutsu developed by Sarutobi Konohamaru to aid his fighting style. It basically creates a void with a concentrated chakra all around his body, making him invisible and untraceable to all senses besides touch. It has a strange flaw, which is it only activates as long as he holds his breath. Apparently, this jutsu requires a heavy focus and concentration to maintain that a single breath will ripple the surrounding chakra and ruin the jutsu. Doujutsu kekkei genkai such as Sharingan and Byakugan can also see through this jutsu.

**Doton: Doryuu Dangan** (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Missile Strike) (A-Rank: High Chakra Consumption)

An offensive earth jutsu. Creates a roaring dragon made of earth and stone and send it at the enemy. The higher version of **Doton: Doryuudan** (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Missile)

**Hakkeshou: Kaiten **(Eight Trigrams Palm: Heavenly Spin) (Bloodline Jutsu)

The famed defensive move of the Hyuuga Clan. The user sends out chakra from every pore in the body and spins around creating a wall of chakra, acting as an absolute defense.

**Hakke: Hyaku Nijyuu Hasshou** (Eight Trigrams: One-Hundred Twenty Eight Strikes) (Bloodline Jutsu)

The more advanced version of the Hyuuga Clan's finisher move, **Hakke: Rokujyuu Yonshou** (Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Strikes). Instead of only attacking 64 major tenketsu points in the opponents body, it also strikes the other 64 minor ones, often resulting in the receiver's immediate death. Even if they survived they will end up with a permanent disability to use chakra if not treated immediately since all of the tenketsus are clogged all at once.

**Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu** (Ninja Arts: Mind Body Switch Technique) (C-Rank: Low Chakra Consumption) (Clan Jutsu)

The basic jutsu of all Yamanaka Clan members. It sends the user's consciousness to another living being, controlling them at will. There are many weaknesses to this technique. It's slow, if you missed, you can't move for around five minutes, and if the host gets injured, you also get it. Nevertheless, it is a very effective jutsu for spying and reconnaissance missions.


End file.
